That first whiff of tear gas in Quebec City proved a tonic for Sarah Dover.
Dover insists the police onslaught against demonstrators at last year's Summit of the Americas was just one of a series of unprovoked attacks on public dissent -- and it did nothing to deter her from attending G-8.
"That was my first lungfull of teargas and it solidified my commitment -- after Quebec City there was no turning back for me," says the 32-year-old Calgary native who has called Ottawa home since 1989.
"I then knew the sorry state of our democracy ... I know as Canadians we're in trouble."
It's clear Dover expects more trouble in Calgary. As part of a group called the Legal Collective, she's already made plans to spend time at the city's remand centre aiding arrested protesters there. "I'll be at Spy Hill," she says matter-of-factly.
But there's a common refrain among protesters converging on Calgary from across the globe: Whatever violence that does break out will be the product of police overreaction.
"There was one window initially broken in Ottawa (during the G-20 summit) and the following day the streets were militarized and 55 people were arrested for no provocation," says Dover, who also attended the event last November.
Dover is typical of many G-8 protesters, who are often introduced to the activist scene through a narrow spectrum that then broadens to encompass numerous causes.
"My activist roots are really in feminism, which involves the concentration of wealth and power," says Dover, adding she then drifted into environmental issues.
"When you boil them all down, the sediment is the same when you talk about trade, the environment and feminism."
And conservative Calgary, she insists, isn't as hostile to left wing activism as many believe.
"Things happen, like a cab driver called and said 'I want to help -- you're my number one priority and I'll drive you anywhere for free,' " she says. "Or people will drop off food and say `I'm upset with the way you've been treated.' That's the Calgary I've seen," says Dover.
Xavier Boulanger, who journeyed from the Mosel region of eastern France, is another activist whose passions have broadened and fragmented.
The prime motivation for Boulanger, 26, is the environmental threat posed by the storage of nuclear waste, adding G-8 nations such as Russia and the U.S. have dubious records when it comes to atomic safety.
"We have no solutions to reduce nuclear waste -- we must look to solar and water energy," says Boulanger.
With the help of crutches, needed following a childhood injury, Boulanger navigates the demonstrator's so-called Convergence Centre occupying the gymnasium of the downtown Calgary Multicultural Centre.
The sight of those crutches didn't deter French police from throwing him in jail twice during sit-ins opposing the closing of coal mines in his home region, he says.
But others around him fared much worse, says Boulanger.
"A mine worker lost his hand when he tried to throw back a tear gas canister that blew up in his hand," he recalls.
As demonstrators trickle into the Convergence Centre, there's no scent of Molotov cocktails, though a bag of bagels makes its appearance.
"Bagels, not bombs," chuckles one youthful activist.
Reminders of upcoming events scrawled in marker pen paper the walls, one trumpeting a "die-in" at Olympic Plaza, another, a "knit-in" while one action, a "Gaptivist" will target alleged worker abuse in poor countries by the garment giant.
The gymnasium is beginning to resemble an activist nerve centre -- though hurdles from the often less-than-friendly surroundings have been encountered.
"Telus wouldn't give us a phone line -- they cited G-8 security issues and called it an embargo," said ponytailed, goateed Calgarian Steve McDonald.
"It's one phone that won't be tapped," quips Thomas, a youthful activist hailing from Saskatoon.
McDonald started with aboriginal issues, which exposed him to other groups "in the movement," he says.
"G-8 is developing a lot of relationships between (protest) communities ... we need to be united because we're certainly outnumbered," says McDonald, 34.
He expressed confidence that today's downtown protest march would be non-violent, though a message on the group's website makes a point of reminding activists to keep the peace.
"Participants are asked to respect the safety of everyone on the streets as this is a peaceful march ..." it reads.
As soon as the dust cleared at the raucous Halifax G-7 finance ministers' meeting, Haligonian Anita Streicher packed up her placard and headed west.
The Kananaskis G-8 will find its way into the thesis she's preparing on the globalization movement for her sociology course at Dalhousie University.
She refused to condemn violent protesters.
"I know they exist, but they have their ideas and tactics they use," Streicher, 25, says from behind short-cropped blond hair and glasses.
The global tentacles of capitalism have proven exploitative, says Streicher, who doesn't see herself as a Communist.
"There are many different ways of organizing economies," says the young woman, who calls Calgary "a nice town."
Other activists say they have no more confidence in a government-controlled economy than its private counterpart, instead favouring something called "community-based."
After being barred at the Canada-U.S. border twice, Paul Bame is in a hurry as he blows through the Convergence Centre en route to a meeting.
Bame, 43, who calls himself a devotee of eco-friendly gardening, says he and a friend were harassed at the border by Canadian officials for their left-wing beliefs.
"They called us anti-democratic and dealt with us unpleasantly ... they weren't willing to listen to my side of the story," says the short, slightly-built Coloradan, his red hair knotted up in a ponytail.
His car, backpack and pockets were scoured repeatedly, he said, until an immigration lawyer finally convinced border officials he posed no threat to the nation.
Bame shrugs at images of military and police descending on the Calgary area, dubbing it a typical ploy to distract the public from the issues at hand.
"I didn't expect to be mistreated at the border, but I expect the militarization -- it happens at all these events," says Bame.
"They're afraid we might be effective, that they might have to listen to the voices of the people their policies hurt."
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